


The Runaway

by imbetteronpaperattwointhemorning



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Mage Inquisitor (Dragon Age), Mage Rebellion, Mages and Templars, Pre-Dragon Age: Inquisition
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2019-11-13 18:47:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18036842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imbetteronpaperattwointhemorning/pseuds/imbetteronpaperattwointhemorning
Summary: New Inquisitor, new fic.Oh, and this pairing: I tagged what I tagged. *Shrugs*





	1. A Rebellion and A Getaway

The woods were thick. Trees rose into the air above like massive pillars of flecked white and black bark. The canopy above was lush green with slivers of pure sunlight shining through the gaps between each massive tree's branches. Elisif would have savored the view had she the time. Instead, she busied herself with the squish of the leaves below her feet as she bounded through the forest propelled by long lost thoughts of a home she barely remembered. Elisif ran from the tower without direction because anywhere was better than the Ostwick tower. All she thought of was the smoke of her parent’s hearth in Highever and the smell of rain. It was a distant memory now, but it was one worth chasing. She only bounded in the first and obvious direction at full speed. The tower had been her home for years, but it was not a real home. It was a prison meant to contain her. 

Hooves pounded in the distance. _No, no, no, no_ , Elisif begged. _Please, I am so close._   Nevertheless, the sound of hooves rattled the trees. _Shit, I thought it was too dense for horses here_. A massive hoofed steed’s footprints pounded closer; a Templar had broken from the pack.

“Ellie, stop this madness!” Aidan had caught up with her. He did not command her so much as beg.

 “Don’t Aidan, don’t! Please! Highever Aidan! Home, don’t you miss it.” Elisif turned to meet her brother. Aidan had slowed his horse to a full stop. Elisif heard thunderous hooves hitting the forest floor in the distance. Her and Aidan did not have much time for this conversation; more horses meant more Templars.

“I want to go home, Elle. But we can’t. You know that.” Aidan’s horse stamped into the wet forest floor.

The stampede of hunting Templar had arrived. The shine of their armor was unmistakable. Like animals cloaked in vibrant hues to denote their toxicity, Templar's shone brightly to mark themselves in the tower. They were always a stark contrast to the dark greys and muted jewel tones of the mage's vestments. They circled Elisif like wolves. Elisif found herself surrounded. _A mage hunt beats a fox hunt_ , she thought. She was walled in by men and horses. Cowan, the least flexible of the bunch, signaled for the group to stop. They stayed in their formation judging her movements, preparing to strike at the first hint of movement.

“Good Aidan. You’ve caught her.” Cowan praised Aidan, but his words felt like a cold knife. Aidan removed his helm to expose his long floppy hair and tanned skin. He looked to Cowan like a wolf cub eyeing the head of the pack. Aidan admired Cowan’s closeness to the Maker and his resolve in his work. Cowan did not just guard mages he sought to rule them. When Elisif had first arrived, Cowan was the first to greet her accompanied by Enchanter Lydia. He had offered her a thick dark venison stew and warm bread. It would be the last kind thing he did for her then time had made him falter in that kindness. Now, Elisif had half a mind to set Cowan ablaze, but her brother’s pleading look restrained her.

“Elisif Trevelyan, you must return to the Ostwick Tower at once. Maker have mercy on you.” Cowan removed his sword. 

“Trevelyan did you—“ Cowan was cut off by a sound so loud it shook the trees and set the Templar’s scattering into various directions. One after another they scattered to the woods and attempted to calm their frantic horses. Ostwick tower was so thoroughly in order the Templars seldom used horses were strangers to the sound of destructive magic. Elisif focused deeply. She recalled the calming spell Enchanter Lydia had taught her. She cast it now into the wood. Her brother's pale mount bucked. Elisif watched as he struggled to keep his grip on its thick leather reigns.

 "Whoa, girl" Aidan cooed.

"I've got her." Elisif approached the bucking horse. She continued her incantation looking deep into the horse's large brown eyes. They seemed to cloud for a moment as her words washed over the beast's long face. Her brother's pale steed settled itself.

“Elle, what was that?” Aidan was shocked.

"Ostwick Tower has fallen," Elisif stated. "This is rebellion. Like, in Kirkwall.” Elisif paused. If the mages won and the tower fell, no one would follow them.

“Let’s go.” Elisif gestured to her brother to help her onto his mount.

“But Elle the Tower.” Aidan hesitated.

“The Tower will fall Aidan. There will be no Tower by nightfall.” Elisif insisted. "Let's go home. There’s nothing there for us.” Another blast sounded in the distance. “At least, not anymore.”

Aidan reached out a hand, and Elisif hoisted herself onto her brother’s horse. The two bounded off into the unknown. The forest a thick wash of blurred browns and greens. However, all that Elisif remembered later was the feeling of rain on her face as they bounded through the woods. It felt as she had always remembered.  

 


	2. Hearths

Aidan’s palms felt raw. He and Elisif had ridden all night. Only to sleep but a few moments in the morning and then awaken and ride again. _Could Elle honestly have felt so desperate in the tower?_ He wondered. _The Maker said that magic was meant to serve man not rule him, how then could the Maker be wrong?_ It puzzled him. He thought of the home he and Elle had left as children.

**. . .**

Aidan remembered the heat of a hearth and the smokey crackle of a fire. Aidan and Elisif's mother sat with her long dark curls flowing over her shoulders, and Elisif, pink cheeks, and brown ringlets to match her mothers, sitting giggling in her lap. The fire cast shadows against the walls — the faint sounds of the adjacent kitchen's activities echoing in the distance. Elisif played with a small wooden horse in her mother's lap. A trinket their father brought from Val Royeaux. Aidan had received his gift, a sword with the symbol of the Templar carved into the rich redwood. It sat resting in his lap after a long day of use.

“Careful now Elle my dear. Keep careful not to drop it in the fire.” Their mother took the small carved horse from her daughter’s hands.

“Fire,” Elisif giggled.

Mother smiled to herself and gestured toward the hearth. “Yes, dear. That’s fire.”

Elisif appeared to think for a moment then gestured toward the hearth.

“Fire.” Only this time the toddler's small tanned palms each contained a small ball of flame. Elisif giggled.

Aidan could not remember what happened next, but he always recalled his mothers face. Her skin pale and her eyes set with a look of fear, heartbreak, and shock. He recognized that everything happened. A mother clad in white came. A few months later, a Templar. A year then Elisif was gone. The giggles subsided and the next thing he knew, a Templar came for him as well.

“Will I see my sister if I’m a Templar?” He asked a stern Cowan as they rode in silence through the very woods he rode through now.

 The severe mountain of a man scratched his chin, “Yes, but she is your charge, not your sister.” Aidan remembered smiling and thinking, I’ll see her again.

**. . .**

Snow, the poor white stead below them, had been a diligent and committed mount but as the second day’s afternoon faded to the pink of the evening, it became clear that neither the beast nor it's riders could continue further. _Oh, Elle! Maker what have you done!_ Aidan thought as he felt the creature below him wobble.

“We should find somewhere real to sleep tonight,” Aidan said as casually as he could. His thoughts were clouded from lack of sleep and the ever-present fear of being followed.

 “We can find a cave or something,” Elisif said resolutely.

“Elle, we can’t do that. Another day like this and we’ll freeze to death.” Aidan stopped Snow. The beast let out a sigh of relief.

“What? Aidan! Why did he stop?” Elisif patted the beasts main with the palm of her hand as if she could tap him into action. Aidan dismounted the animal, careful not to pull his sister down with him.

“Elle, we need to find a tavern. An inn. Anything.” The worlds came out quick and tight. He couldn’t look at her face when he said them for he knew she was rolling her eyes.

“And what?” She shrugged “Carry a big old sign saying I’m an apostate and this is my Templar brother. We want a room at your inn. We don’t have any money so we’ll pay in a jaunty tune.” A neigh punctuated her last word, and then the great beast below her reared up. Elisif, surprised by the maneuver, slid down the creatures back onto the forest floor. There was a moment of tense silence broken by a sudden outburst of laughter from both Aidan and Elisif. When it subsided, Aidan helped Elisif up.

“We need shelter it’s getting dark. Let’s go to the road and see what we find.” He looked at his sister over. “We’ll figure something out,” he gestured to her rich colored mage robes.

 

**Author's Note:**

> New Inquisitor, new fic.
> 
> Oh, and this pairing: I tagged what I tagged. *Shrugs*


End file.
